


through the wire

by zealotarchaeologist



Category: SOMA (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, the dispatchers were all bffs and no one will convince me otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 05:40:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5363447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zealotarchaeologist/pseuds/zealotarchaeologist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The end of the world has a way of making you treasure the friends you have left.</p>
            </blockquote>





	through the wire

**Author's Note:**

> Finally getting around to fulfilling some requests! Hit me up here or on tumblr if you want anything, this is literally the only fandom i write for.

It takes some time for Strasky, getting used to being underwater. It’s less the ocean and more the isolation that worries him. He’s a friendly guy by nature, everyone’s always told him so, and he doesn’t like being alone with his thoughts. The whole thing makes him nervous, right up until he meets his coworkers.

Well, he doesn’t _meet_ them exactly, not face to face.

He’s barely had time to drop his things in his little corner of the habitat before he’s ordered down to what will essentially become his office. But it’s imperative that the stations be able to communicate quickly and without problems, so it’s best that he learns the names of the people he’ll be talking to.

Hart. Jonsdottir. Herber. He rounds out their little group of four. It feels kind of…special, knowing people on the other stations.

In the coming days, as the world goes to hell above them, the warm voices on the other end of the radio give him something to look forward to.

 

After leaving Upsilon behind, Jonsy joins him in the dispatch room most of the time. It’s been hard for the evacuees—Theta was designed to hold exactly the amount of people they needed, each person in their place. But Jonsy seems to find some kind of comfort in sharing the job. Strasky watches her chat over the radio with Hart and treasures the rare moments when she laughs or breaks into a smile. It’s different from hearing her voice through the speakers.

They take turns sleeping and take turns bringing each other coffee. Late nights find them huddled around the terminal with warm drinks, trading gossip with the other stations.

It feels like years ago that Strasky was on the surface. But he never thought twice about taking the job. How could he feel lonely, surrounded by his friends?

 

Hart is the next to join them, after Lambda is ordered to evacuate. She can’t hide her sadness—she loved Lambda, loved her system. But she fits right in at Theta, making friends faster even than Strasky did. She livens up the mess hall, hovers around the labs encouraging Catherine, even gets Strohmeier to crack a smile every now and then. But most of her day she spends in the increasingly crowded dispatch room, the three of them preserving their daily talks with Herbie.

The quick check-ins turn into long, rambling conversations that stretch until it’s technically night time. When they run out of stories from their days and gossip about their coworkers, they talk about their old lives on the surface. As the hours pass Strasky learns why Jonsy likes taking her father’s name as a nickname, grows familiar with the stories about Hart’s four younger siblings, remembers the name of every friend Herbie regrets leaving behind.

He doesn’t bring his own history up too often. Theta feels more and more like home every day. And these people, well, they’re a family in their own way.

 

A few hours after Hart left with the salvage team, he and Jonsy are hovering by the terminal. Herbie is on her line, too, but they’re all nervously silent. They evacuated Lambda for a reason. Sending people back months later is a move that’s risky at best.

So when they finally hear the speakers crackle to life, she barely manages to get out “Vanessa Hart, requesting communications,” before they cut her off with cheering and questions. Strictly speaking, they were just supposed to establish a link, but one thing leads to another and soon she’s telling them all about her day.

“Imogen isn’t happy. She and Golaski are really worked up about the WAU for some reason. But Strask, please don’t mention it to Catherine if she comes back, okay?”

“What was she saying?” Herbie interrupts, uncharacteristically terse. “About the WAU, I mean?”

“Something about how it’s taking over the helpers. But it’s ridiculous. It can’t plan ahead, it’s—“

“—an AI, yeah, but that doesn’t mean it’s not—“

“Guys, can we calm down?”

“You didn’t see.” Jonsy’s voice from behind him startles him. She’d been silent the whole time. “The constructs at Upsilon, they were so…”

“What it’s doing isn’t great.” Strasky tries to settle the conversation. He and Catherine have talked this one out many times. “But you can’t blame it any more than you can blame an animal for biting. It’s not out to get us.”

“What if...what if that doesn’t matter?” There’s a long pause as Herbie struggles to find her words. “It’s not evil, but…you still put down an animal that bites.”

“If we could,” Hart relents, and Strasky can practically hear her rolling her eyes, “that’d be a whole different problem. It’s keeping practically all our systems running, remember?”

“Yeah, but—“

“Oh, Rogers says food’s on, I’ve gotta go. Say hi to everyone for me!”

“Will do.”

“Bye, Vanessa.”

Hart’s line goes dead with a click.

“I guess that’s all for now, then.” Herbie follows with a sigh.

With the radio silent, the background hum of machinery suddenly seems a lot louder. Strasky hates the heavy silence.

“We oughta report in that Lambda’s alright.” He offers to Jonsy, more to break the mood than anything. She looks for a moment like she wants to say something, but simply nods. She links her arm with his as they leave the room. No matter what, they’re all family. They’ve got to stick together.

They don’t hear from Hart again. Not until she comes back from Lambda, bruised and wild-eyed and telling stories about the black blood of the WAU.

 

“Strasky? Are you there?” Raleigh’s chirping voice comes filtered through the speakers, startling Strasky from his daze. It’s a few hours before she usually calls. Jonsy and Hart aren’t even here.

“I hear you, Herbie, what’s up?”

“Just wanted to check in. I have to go do something. I might not be around for a few days, okay?”

“Raleigh Herber leaving the listening post? Must be important.” He jokes, trying to cover any genuine concern.

“It is, Strask. It is.” And this time her voice does sound different, almost sad.

He’s probably imagining it. He hopes. “Okay then. Stay safe!”

“Bye, Peter.”

Radio static hangs in the empty room for a long time. She’s never called him by his first name. Not ever.

First Catherine’s gone and now Herbie. Hell, even Vanessa is a shell of who she used to be.

He feels lonely like he never has before. Between Herbie disappearing and everything with Akers this morning, it’s all too much. For the first time, Strasky can’t keep at bay the thought that maybe they’re not going to make it, after all. How is he supposed to deal with that? How is he supposed to be okay with watching his friends slowly wither away at the bottom of the ocean?

Strasky lays his head against the cool metal counter. The static crackles on, unending. It's an almost peaceful sound.

At least until the emergency alarms go off.

 


End file.
